Friday, May 29, 2009

The fat cats

On Saturday, 102 individuals representing 34 national sports associations will cast their vote to decide the line-up to lead the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) for the next two years. The candidates are as follows:

The former Menteri Besar of Perlis, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, who is also president of four NSAs, turns 58 on June 17. That's all I can say.

Datuk Sieh Kok Chi (extreme left) is secured for another term, but the remaining three gentlemen will leave it to the delegates on Saturday

Politics, academia and sports administration are the three areas Prof Datuk Seri Dr Haji Ibrahim Saad has tried his hands on and now an adviser to Octagon, a sports consultancy and event management firm. The former vice-president and later general secretary of the FAM, Ibrahim is seen as a do-er. Turns 63 on Aug 3, exactly eight years younger than Prof W.Y. Chin. Kindly go to http://ssdhaliwal.blogspot.com for a Q and A with Ibrahim.

Few remember the fact Datuk Dr Jegathesan Manickavasagam bagged the National Science Award in 1995, almost three decades after the ace of pace was picked as the inaugural winner of the National Sportsman of the Year award. The pathologist who capped his career in the civil service as the deputy director general of Health is resigned to the fact his athletics exploits overshadow his real contributions to society - in the medical field where more than 100 scientific papers are attributed to him. There's even a bacteria named after him yet we remember him as the 1966 Asian Games sprint king and the first Malaysian to reach the semi-finals of an Olympic event by being among the top 16 200m runners in the Tokyo Games in 1964. Will be 66 in November.

Turns 55 exactly a week after Saturday's elections, Datuk Abdullah Sani Karim was a OCM vice-president from 2005 to 2007 before giving way to Ibrahim Saad. A civil engineer by profession, Sani as he is universally known, represented University of Birmingham in badminton, tennis and chess. Executive chairman and principal owner of five companies with interests ranging from construction to bakery, Sani is the president of SRAM.

Prof Datuk Chin Wai Yeong who turns 71 on Aug 3 is a town planner, architect and sports administrator all rolled into one. Born in Kampar but grew up to become a classmate of Pak Lah in Penang, W.Y. Chin is a respected figure in the world of snooker and billiards.

Born in Singapore in 1947, Prof Datuk Zakaria Ahmad is one of 13 Malaysians to have occupied the Tun Razak Chair at Ohio University. Co-founder of the Malaysian Gymnastics Federation (MGF) in 1977, Zakaria comes from an illustrious family.

M.P. Haridas was the OCM general manager from 1994 to 2008. Born in Malacca, the hockey goalkeeper-turned-teacher-turned-coach-turned-sports administrator turned 71 last January. One of his students at Jasin English Secondary School was former NSC director-general, Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad. His contemporaries for the job between the hockey posts were the late Datuk Ho Koh Chye and Anwarul Haque (now a lawyer in Singapore).

Datuk Roy Rajasingham Ratnasingam was a vice-president of the MHF for more than a decade and played hockey at school level. A respected lawyer, Roy is also the secretary of the MHF Foundation.

Another VP candidate is Edwin Chong, general secretary of Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (Asum), of which the president is Shahidan. UPDATED - Edwin has withdrawn from contesting.

The women's assistant secretary's post will see a tussle between incumbent Moira Tan and her immediate predecessor, Latifah Tan Sri Ya'cob, who is eligible to contest after attaching all the relevant documents to the independent panel, while Ramlay Ibrahim, the incumbent occupying the men's assistant secretary seat, will be challenged by L. Ramesh, Lawrence Yeow and Hisham Mohd Noor.

About Me

Freelance journo, self-proclaimed football expert, sports critic. Used to be on the payroll of Berita Harian and the Malay Mail. Byline has appeared in Berita Harian, Harian Metro, New Straits Times, Malay Mail, Kosmo, Footballasia, France Football, Agence France Presse. Malaysian Press Institute's Sportswriter of the Year 2005 (English category), Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2007-Sportswriters Association of Malaysia contest Grand Prize winner. Former Sportswriters Association of Malaysia secretary, has completed the Grand Slam - having covered the SEA Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. Editor of the now defunct football weekly pullout with Kosmo, Rembat, which loosely means "Kick" and host of Malaysia's first hard-talk show on sports - Dengan Izin (If I may). Jury of FIFA Ballon d'Or since 2010. Currently columnist for FourFourTwo Malaysia and editor of Arena E Mag, the digital magazine published by Astro Digital Publications Sdn Bhd

Facebook Astro Arena

Disclaimer

The content of this blog is provided for information purposes only. The views expressed in the comments section do not necessarily reflect those of the blog author. Nevertheless, as we move towards becoming a fully developed nation, let us be tolerant to dissenting views. After all, it's only sports. Majulah sukan untuk negara.